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The World Bank Group mobilised a record $112 billion in private capital in fiscal year 2026, more than triple the amount recorded four years earlier, as it stepped up efforts to drive investment, job creation and economic opportunity in developing countries.
The Group also issued more than $25 billion in guarantees during FY26, surpassing its target of $20 billion in annual issuance by 2030 four years ahead of schedule.
Private capital mobilisation (PCM) rose from $35 billion in FY22 to $112 billion in FY26. Combined with the World Bank Group’s own financing, total financing and mobilisation in developing economies exceeded $200 billion during the year.
The growth was broad-based. PCM to lower-middle-income countries increased from $14 billion in FY22 to $37 billion in FY26, while mobilisation in upper-middle-income countries rose from $12 billion to $50 billion.
In low-income countries, among the most challenging environments for attracting private capital, PCM remained at around $3 billion. Across Africa, it increased from approximately $9 billion to $22 billion, a rise of nearly 150 per cent.
The results reflect three years of reforms across the World Bank Group aimed at working more effectively with the private sector by becoming faster and simpler, bringing the public and private sides of the institution closer together, and expanding the tools available to investors.
The Group has established a single point of contact for its public and private-sector work in each country and begun developing integrated strategies based on national needs and development priorities.
The Private Sector Investment Lab complemented those efforts by identifying practical barriers to investment in developing economies and developing a work plan to address them.
The World Bank Group has pursued the agenda across the institution by improving business and regulatory environments, expanding guarantees and local-currency financing, addressing foreign-exchange challenges, increasing equity tools and developing new ways for institutional investors to participate at scale.
The growth in guarantees was led by the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform, established in 2024 to provide clients and investors with a simpler, single point of access to guarantee products across the institution.
“Three years ago, our shareholders and clients were clear: utilise World Bank Group financing and knowledge to mobilise more private capital and become a better partner to the private sector. We changed how we work to do that—faster, simpler, and as one World Bank Group,” World Bank Group President Ajay Banga said.
“The result is $112 billion mobilised this year, more than three times where we started. But the number only matters if the capital goes where it can create opportunity and jobs. That is the work ahead: keep removing barriers, keep expanding the pool of investors, and keep driving more capital into developing economies,” he added.
Job creation is a central priority for the World Bank Group. In developing economies, 1.2 billion young people are expected to reach working age over the next 10 to 15 years, while only around 420 million jobs are projected to be created.
The private sector accounts for nine out of 10 jobs in these economies.
The World Bank Group’s jobs strategy focuses on three mutually reinforcing drivers: investing in human and physical infrastructure; creating business-ready regulatory environments; and helping the private sector scale.
It targets five job-rich sectors where these foundations can unlock investment and employment at scale: infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and value-added manufacturing.
In FY26, 55 per cent of total financing, including the Group’s own financing and mobilised capital, went to these job-rich sectors, helping translate stronger foundations and better policies into private investment, business growth and jobs.
Private investment is also reaching lower-income economies, where regional and local investors are increasingly complementing global capital in financing businesses and creating jobs.
The World Bank Group is now seeking to build on that progress by expanding the range of investors able to participate.
Through its originate-to-distribute (O2D) initiative, the Group is developing ways to package and distribute investments to institutional investors at greater scale, connecting more of the world’s pools of long-term capital with opportunities in developing economies.
The ambition is to mobilise more capital from more sources and put more of it to work creating jobs and economic opportunity, says a press release
